i want the best project that there ever was in the city and county of san francisco. i'm tired of i'm tired of seeing these projects and just housing them. that is why i am going against the issue. we're trying to get larkin street and chp to work together with us on a valid program that is state of the art in the united states, not just for the city. i have got a little emotional on this because i have kids, too, and i really think we're pushing something through when there were alternative sites. there were two towers down the street with meeting rooms. they refused to look at them. president olague: thank you. >> hi, good afternoon.

i am gabrielle and i am a neighbor. i am a native of san francisco. i have a concern about the project, specifically chp as our neighbor. i live less than two blocks away and i was never notified about this. the only way i heard about anything going on was through our neighborhood association having a meeting. i know i heard earlier about notice and hearings but none of that came our way as neighbors. i went to the meeting, kind of open to this, actually. i like the idea of affordable housing. i am really in favor of affordable housing in san francisco. instead, we were met with a lot of opposition. and i hear about this program, they call a group housing, but it really seems more like an sro.

they say it is for 18- 24-year- old, but there is really no mechanism for people who age out. i am very concerned about that and i am concerned about the size of the project in the special use district. this waiver of our regulations that was put in place to protect all of san francisco in favor of one small project? like someone said earlier, i would also be in favor of a project that that's the requirement of this space. 16 units, where units, congregation space-bar. this is an sro, with a tiny kitchen, and access that is not sufficient to the 24 residents they are anticipating and their visitors. the people i know who are

homeless and lived in it -- [bell] >> good afternoon. my name is mark. with a 65% of youth transitioning out of foster care facing homelessness, i think the social benefits that will be created by this project fully justified the minimal changes requested of the sud. i'm fully impressed by the outreach by chp and larkin street to educate myself and neighbors with door hangers, websites, and community meetings. unfortunately, the petitions and flyers that oppose this as being another bridge hotel. this will not be that in any way, shape, or form. i know that larkin and chp will share in a quality project that

will be welcome to our neighborhood. i urge you to support this project. commissioner moore: -- vice president miguel: next speakers? >> i am charles. i live in the neighborhood. i oppose the idea of creating a special use district for this project for the simple reason that every important project can make as good a showing as they have for the social benefit. what will happen is we will have more and more special use district and your jobs as commissioners will be a hodgepodge gerrymandering of the space in town without following the general plan and without looking at the harmonies of the neighborhood that have been generated over the years.

of course this is a worthy purpose, but they have failed to present enough evidence to show that a special use district just for them, just for this purpose is absolutely required. that said, there are alternate sites in town. those were overlooked. in my opinion, this is a public project because the city and county of san francisco has put $4 million into the project to date and should not be a handout to the developer of these entitlement rights by way of leaving the entire zoning protections with regard to density and common areas. it seems unnecessary to ignore the planning and zoning code completely to legislate a special use district allowed

this particular use, noble as it is. the discretion should go against the program simply because they asked for too much. why can't the project simply be located where the zoning is ok? what is the matter with requiring them to have the densities that are -- vice president miguel: thank you. >> thank you. >> good afternoon. my name is jennifer herring 10 and my family owns the property adjacent to the edward hotel. i hear the praises of larkin street. i have my own personal concerns with chp. i am speaking because if this project moves forward, i want to ensure that our presidents and

our city is properly served. the chp has been inconsistent in its actions and overall assurances regarding this project. they stated on several occasions they intended to complete the purchase transaction before letting anyone in the neighborhood know about it, we assume because they did not want anyone in position to object. the neighborhood was alerted after the issue was raised by a local police officer. chp claimed they would operate the king edward as a hotel until all the issues were resolved. shortly after completing the purchase, they shut it down, citing a lawsuit. no record of the suit can be found. this is essentially a defacto sro because there is no requirement they move out and they are granted all rights of permanent residence, a lover chp did not apply for the appropriate permits to. however, chp did not apply for

the poor. permits to operate this. they state that the residents will be paying rent based on their ability to pay. however, larkin street is providing the money for the residents to pay. this kind of a wash, one city- funded organization paying another, and that is not included in the city coffers. at the present time, chp is housing their own employees at the king edward. on one hand it is not the zone for permanent residence, on the other hand it is not aba- compliant and not able to be used as a hotel. this just does not add up. vice president miguel: thank you. >> good afternoon. i wanted to read a letter for support of community housing partnership from the north panhandle neighborhood association. "on behalf of the north

panhandle neighborhood association, i strongly encourage you to approve the plans for the edward ii project. this is a wonderful building filled with civic-minded staff and residents. we have had nothing but positive experiences. several residents have attended committee meetings and that means a lot to us. we have had our share of detractors on this project. there were rate is that such a place will degrade the quality of life for our neighbors. our experience to date has been the complete opposite. our neighborhood and neighbors' lives are enhanced by a well-run facility that solidifies our mutual commitment to building a better community. community housing partnerships is an excellent neighbor. they're sensitive and responsive to the concerns of the neighbors." vice president miguel: thank

you. and the other names that i have called? >> my name is anne, and i live on steiner street. i am supporting this project. i understand it is not perfect. they have to apply for an sud to make the program work. the hotel did house more people than 24 in the past, so in terms of the impact on the neighborhood population, it should not be much. i think that the need it in the city is so great to provide housing for this population that to wait for the perfect spot that would require no variance or waivers, we would not have 18- to 24-year-old that need to spot.

we would not know where there would be right now. i am just a concerned neighbor who thinks this project should be supported, and i would like to see you approve it. thank you. vice president miguel: thank you. >> hi. my name is kathleen. i am an emancipated foster youth. i am also an advocate for service provider working with at risk of adults and a program manager for an association providing educational presentations for the community about early intervention and young people. i was a part of the traditional youth task force and have used my personal experiences to make positive changes. i was in all and the amount of work and dedication the community had and helping

transitioning. i urge you to please support edward ii, because there are some money at risk young adults on the streets of san francisco. the housing provides stability and support. if you do not have housing intact, it is hard to be grounded. since the mets a petting from the foster care system, have moved 14 times -- cents emancipating from the foster care system, i have moved 14 times. i have had no choice but to struggle and fight, and the some people have to struggle and fight every year. there is a catch-22 in the education system which makes school unaffordable and inaccessible to at risk young people. if they work, they cannot that financial aid because they make too much money, but if they don't work, how did they have a roof over their head? as you know, education is key. these units would help young people become more grounded and help them become self sustaining

and adults who are not stigmatized because of their time in the system. these housing units would be an opportunity to change the lives of young people less than 50% of foster youth graduate from high school and fewer than 10% to graduate from high school in role in college and less than 1% to graduate from college. it took me nearly a decade to accomplish this feat and i'm happy to be here today. vice president miguel: thank you. is there anyone who may still be in the overflow room or rooms 16, there are seats in this room if you wish to come in here. if i have called your name, please come forward. laura, tracy, michelle, and michael. if any of you are present, come forward. your name has been called, don't

worry about the order. >> good afternoon, my name is laura. i have worked at larkin street over 10 years. you have heard from a wide array of people about the impressive services at larkin street to help young people got off the streets and move on. i strongly believe that as a society we have an obligation to provide for those in need and do it in the best possible way. to me, young person who is living on the streets because it provides a stifel our tentative than their home is in great need and i can think of no greater importance than to provide affordable housing. i have come to see homelessness as a really important time in a young person's life. this is something that can be moved beyond. it is not a permanent condition, and that larkin street has a track record of making sure people move beyond homelessness. we are effective at what we do at housing is the cornerstone.

providing housing is not enough. we need to do it in a way that really reflects how much we care about our clients and makes them feel welcome. i ask you all to think about the young adults that you know, your children, your grandchildren. think about what you want for those young people. i think we all agree what we would like is for them to live in a situation with support and oversight from caring adults. i think we all agree that we would like the young people we know to live in a safe neighborhood, and that is what we want for our clients. our young people at larkin street have had the misfortune through no fault of their own to be without permanent housing. they are full of potential. providing affordable housing to them in a safe neighborhood is the right thing to do. thank you. vice president miguel: thank you. next speaker? >> good afternoon,

commissioners. i purchased and moved into a home in early 2011 and i can attest to the problem of affordability in the city, moving from out-of-state. i believe the intentions for housing the at risk youth at the king edward ii battelle are noble and i am all for that. what i am opposed to is the special use district zoning change which permits a higher density of young residents who will be living in a dormitory- like setting that lacks space and then it sees -- that lacks space and amenities. it is a warehouse. the current plans indicate there will only be one manager present for 24 residents and guests. to me, this is sorely

inadequate. they are in need of much adult guidance and attention. and even for the original 16 residents, i feel this level of supervision is barely inadequate. i support housing at risk youth, but i do not believe packing them into tiny rooms with insufficient supervision and in adequate facilities is the ideal way to go about it. thank you. president olague: wendy, william, manny, followed by jonathan. >> good afternoon. my name is wendy, and that live on chestnut street. i have lived there seven years. i lived in a studio apartment on

my on with my husband, expecting my first baby. i moved there for the same reasons other people are attracted to the area -- safety, a strong sense of community, the wide variety of merchants and restaurants, schools, parks, accessibility to outdoor recreation, and public transportation. it is these reasons that i support the edward ii project to provide housing for foster care youth. it will provide a positive home environment and the surrounding community to help them achieve their goal. the youth that are housed there are not criminals or battling drug addiction. they have grown up without the support of a home environment, shuffled around foster care, left home because of abuse or kicked out of homes for coming home to their families. the difference is when i moved to san francisco 10 years ago, i had the support of my parents to help me financially. they help me with a down payment, took me shopping,

furnished apartment, bought groceries, and help support me until i found a job these youth have not had the support system to allow them to live in this kind of independent way, did not have the ability to have some to give them the money. they have had to earn their right to live here, and with the help of larkin street it will receive the support of system to allow them to achieve their goals and work towards self- sufficiency. it will be working, going to school, paying rent, and finally have a place to call their own. thank you. president olague: thank you. >> good afternoon. my name is bill campbell. i live seven blocks from this facility. i have lived there over 30 years. i have seen larkin street youth working and the committee. i had an intern in my office. i think one of the reasons larkin street is successful is because it has very high expectations and it provides

world class support of all kinds. i am comfortable having this facility seven blocks from our home, and i would be comfortable having it on our block. these young people drew a bad hand in life. but they need now is a chance, and larkin street and chp can provide that. with the gatt and housing that exists in this city, we need a citywide solution and all neighborhoods to step up. we need to offer these young people a safe place to transition to adulthood. this project needs to have 24 units. it will not work with 16. at 16 would kill it, and i agree that our city should not wait for a perfect solution. this is an excellent solution and we should go for it. these young people need the chance that this facility and this neighborhood will give them, and we all need to be part

of the solution. i hope that you will act in favor of this facility. thank you. president olague: thank you. >> good afternoon, my name is jonathan. i have spent a resident for over 30 years. my life and i have raised our three children there. i want to say this is a fabulous use of this hotel, a former hotel. lombard street has its problems. this project seems to reduce the kind of problems we experienced on lombard street. the traffic is reduced, there is supervision, and when you get down to it, i am so thrilled to hear the neighborhood associations that are usually the opponents of change and everything in the neighborhood come forward and say they support larkin street and they support this project. except for the spot zoning issue. i just want to say a couple

things about this. spot zoning is a ruse. i doubt the average citizen spends nights worrying about whether the spot zoning is on lombard street. i truly believe none of them know what the zoning is on lombard street at any time, spot or otherwise. now we're down to 16 or 24? or if it is 24, tickets and morals or find the perfect site? we have this site, we have the financing lined up, we have the opportunity to do the right thing, and as a neighborhood we ought to step up and say that we welcome this project, we like you in our neighborhood, and this is an opportunity to showcase it, and i hope very much that you support it. thank you. president olague: thank you. rob, anthony, lydia, david.

>> thank you. i am with carpenters' local 22. the question i have with chp and lorton street, do they do what they say they do? do they prepare these kids? it sounds like they do. in my local, one of the things on my job, i talked to the youth. the first thing i do is tell them, you better be prepared. we don't just take anybody. you better be on the ball and be ready. if that is what this organization does, then we are all for it. if not, then there is a problem. but you are giving them a chance, and that is what we want to see. also what i am hearing out there it is there is fear and change. we need to come over that. again, you have to be prepared.

if that is what they're doing, let's go for it. 24 units, 16 units, whatever, let's make it work. we are all for it. thank you. president olague: thank you. >> my name is anthony, and i just want to say i support the project. president olague: thank you. >> good afternoon. my name is david elliot louis. i would say let's not let the perfect be the enemy of the good. i am on the board of community housing partnerships and the mental health board. in 1984 i moved to the city. i live there about two decades. i know this area, the marina, the residence. i know some of their concerns and fears. let me say this, we have a

question, and we have a question of this -- the future of our youth, the future of some of our most vulnerable youth, verses the concerns, may be real, maybe not, from some of the residents of this area. this is an exploited group, vulnerable, transitional-age youth. they need a fighting chance, a chance to make it, a chance to be surrounded by a save and beautiful neighborhood but that offers a positive role models, high expectations, of the one professionals, experiences to build a better life. this is all about opportunity for self improvement. the youth are our future. let's give our future the best possible chance. i plead with you to make this edward ii in reality, to help improve them and our city. thank you for your consideration. president olague: thank you. howard squires, pamela squires,

greg daniels, carletta jackson. >> hello, commissioners. i am standing before you to let you know my opposition to the creation of this special use district. my wife and i have two young children and live just two blocks from the edward ii. we chose to live there because we felt it was a vibrant and safe neighborhood where we can raise our children. there are many families with young children that live there. unfortunately, we have lost over the years many of our friends and young children as they have left the city for a variety of reasons, including cost of living, quality of schools, as well as safety. you are no doubt aware of the

startling new figures released that show that just over 13% of the city residents are under the age of 18. this is one of the smallest percentages of children in any major u.s. city. my wife and i have always felt we would not follow in these footsteps and remain in san francisco. however, we are very concerned about the potential toxic combinations of creating an sud and the president sets for the edward ii to house 24 at-risk than adults with no open space or outside area, just 1.5 blocks from the motel. the bridge motel is a hotbed of crime, drugs, and prostitution in our neighborhood. locating this supportive housing project so close to the bridge motel will not only put our neighborhood at risk for increased crime and illegal

activities, but it also put the 24 young adults that the city is trying to help at risk as well. although we understand the importance of housing at risk youth, i don't think creating an sud and cramming 24 youth into the space is known that just for 16 -- [bell] president olague: thank you, sir. >> howard squires. foster care is in transition. the aging out of foster care. at the beginning of this year, there is a new law in place that says ultimately over a couple years, foster care will age out at 21, no longer 18. i would think within this age group will change across the street.

realty equities has operated as a business and builder, property manager for 75 years in san francisco. we have operated various businesses. we owned the hotel that was built in 1959. it is now called the presidio inn, leased to an operator. our most recent project was directly across the street from the edward project. 12-unit mixed use condominium project. we have had an impossible time selling the units. we have sold for in 1.5 years. we have disclosed this project to many of our buyers and many of them have backed out. they have backed out because of what they have been told. no drug policy, all these kids with all their friends, etc., etc., it has created a huge problem. we have had to rent the